I want to commend the Superintendent of Bullitt County Public Schools, Keith Davis, on his actions taken to terminate a teacher that has been in trouble on more than one occasion for his actions in the classroom.

It is unfortunate that a tribunal decision overturned this termination. How they reached this decision is beyond comprehension. They admit the child felt threatened by the teacher’s action. How can they say it was not serious enough to warrant termination? They dismissed the other times this teacher was disciplined for his outbursts such as implying that his students were idiots...Unbelievable!

I can’t help but wonder if a student implied his teacher was an idiot or if he grabbed his teacher and pulled him out of his seat, if there would be a tribunal to say his actions weren’t serious enough for expulsion. How can we expect our students to obey the rules if the teachers aren’t required to do the same. In all honesty, teachers should be held more accountable for their actions in the classroom because they are authority figures (not to mention role models) for these students.

I do not try to suggest that teaching is not a frustrating job at times. We all know our little angels are not always angelic! I’ll grant teachers need more parental involvement in our children’s education and they need our support in the monumental job of educating children. But along with this we, as parents and taxpayers, should expect teachers to act like professionals all the time. Temper tantrums and outbursts have consequences, from timeout and grounding when you’re a kid to reprimands and even termination when you are an adult.

If a teacher becomes overwhelmed, then I’m sure the principal would take over the class for a few minutes to allow a cooler head to prevail. But this should not be a regular occurrence. Maybe this teacher needs to rethink his career choice. At the very least this teacher needs to be required to seek counseling for anger management (at his own expense) before he can return to the classroom.